Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which persons not employed by his Department hold security passes entitling them to enter his Department's premises.

Mr John Hayes: There are different categories of persons who for business needs require access to the Department’s premises. Outside of permanent civil servants this includes contractors or secondees and the number of passes issued will fluctuate across any given time period. Departmental and Agency Security teams manage the end to end processes of issuing, return and destruction of security passes.

Large Goods Vehicles: Accidents

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of traffic incidents or accidents caused by lorries relying on satellite navigation devices designated for cars in the last 12 months; and if he will look at ways of discouraging HGV drivers from using such devices.

Andrew Jones: The Department does not hold any information about whether drivers of lorries or any other vehicles were using or had access to satellite navigation systems when they were involved in an incident or accident. Satellite navigation systems are a useful driving aid, but they are not a replacement for lorry drivers observing road signs, the wider road environment and using their training effectively.The Department has invested £3 million in working with Ordnance Survey on a new digital map of the road network. This will make it easier for drivers to navigate Britain's roads. By bringing more information on restrictions together it will also help businesses by reducing time and money wasted by lorry drivers taking roads unsuitable for their vehicles. The first full commercial release of the map was in October 2016 and it is updated each month.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations has he received from the motorsport industry on the scope of the Motor Insurance Directive (2009/13/EC) since the European Court of Justice ruling of September 2014, Damijan Vnuk v Zavarovalnica Triglav C-162/13, on insurance for motorised vehicles used off-road.

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the European Court of Justice ruling of September 2014, Damijan Vnuk v Zavarovalnica Triglav C-162/13 on insurance for motorised vehicles used off-road, if he will make an assessment of ways in which the effect of the scope of the Motor Insurance Directive (2009/13/EC) could be limited to the use of vehicles in the context of traffic as defined in the Road Traffic Act 1998.

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential change in the level of motor insurance premiums as a result of the European Court of Justice ruling of September 2014, Damijan Vnuk v Zavarovalnica Triglav C-162/13, on insurance for motorised vehicles used off-road.

Andrew Jones: The Department is currently holding a public consultation on the implications of the Vnuk judgment. The Consultation impact assessment assesses the likely costs and benefits arising from two policy options for extending the scope of compulsory motor insurance. The Government engaged extensively with stakeholders, including those from the motorsport industry, during the preparation of the consultation and impact assessment. I met with a range of representatives from the motorsport industry last month to listen to their concerns about the Vnuk judgment.The consultation seeks stakeholders’ view about the policy options as well as requesting further information about the potential cost and benefits, including the impact on premiums. This will be used to assess the overall economic impacts of the policy options. We oppose any measures which impose an unreasonable burden on the public. We will use the consultation responses to get the best result for the country.

Regional Airports: High Speed 2 Railway Line

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support the connectivity of regional airports to High Speed 2.

Andrew Jones: High Speed 2 will transform our country’s railways and airport connectivity. As part of Phase One, there will be access to Birmingham Airport via a high capacity people mover at Birmingham Interchange, and excellent links to Heathrow via direct train links at Old Oak Common. Phase Two will further improve regional airport connectivity, with a dedicated HS2 station to Manchester Airport. The new HS2 station at Toton will allow easy access to East Midlands airport.

Motor Vehicles: Lighting

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of halogen bulbs in recently manufactured cars on a driver's eyesight when driving at night.

Andrew Jones: Halogen bulbs have been used in cars for many years but no specific assessment has been made of their effect on drivers’ eyesight. However, in response to a UK initiative, an international review of the glare effect of modern vehicle lighting is underway at the UN-ECE technical expert group and should report by the end of the year.

Roads: Capital Investment

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2017 to Question 60278, what his Department's timescale is for a decision on future improvements for the strategic road network, including the M4, as part of the long-term planning process for road investment programmes; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: Preparation is underway for the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) to cover the period 2020 to 2025. The work is in three phases; research, decision and mobilisation. The research phase is in progress. As well as six strategic studies looking at complex problems facing specific areas, including the M25 south west quadrant, a key source of information will be Highways England’s programme of 18 refreshed route strategies covering the entire network, including the M4. Work on these route strategies is reaching conclusion and we expect these to be published in March. We will then move on to assessing options for interventions at priority locations with a view to publishing RIS2 in 2019.Potential works on the Strategic Road Network related specifically to airport expansion in the South East are also being considered following the announcement on 25 October 2016 and publication of the draft National Policy Statement on 2 February 2017. However, there are no plans for additional works on the M4 related to airport expansion.

M4

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's consultation on Draft Airports National Policy Statement: new runway capacity and infrastructure at airports in the South East of England, published in February 2017, how capacity on the M4 will be assessed as part of future planning in relation to the road network; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: The Department has no plans to widen the M4 because of the proposed expansion at Heathrow Airport. Our focus is on maximising the number of airport journeys made by public transport. The draft Airports National Policy Statement published on 2 February proposes specific public transport mode share targets against which Heathrow Airport Limited would report on an annual basis. Heathrow Airport Limited has pledged not to increase the number of vehicles on the road as a result of expansion. Capacity on the strategic road network, including the M4, is considered through Highways England’s route strategies, which contribute to the development of our road investment strategy.

Aviation: EU Law

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that airports continue to meet the requirements of the Birds and Habitats Directives and the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive during airspace change decision-making processes.

Mr John Hayes: Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the EU and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation. The outcome of those negotiations will determine what arrangements apply in relation to EU legislation in future once the UK has left the EU. Irrespective of our future relationship with the EU we share its goals of ensuring that airspace is modernised to ensure sufficient capacity to accommodate growth in air traffic whilst remaining safe and minimising environmental impacts. The Department for Transport would expect all airports to continue to meet the requirements of the Birds and Habitats Directives and the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive during airspace change decision-making processes.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Communities and Local Government: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which persons not employed by his Department and its agencies hold security passes entitling them to enter his Department's premises.

Mr Marcus Jones: Civil servants have to have the ability to work flexibly across government sites where there is a business need to do so. The issuing of all passes is controlled by the local Departmental Security teams. Passes can also be issued to contractors or secondees based within government premises on a case by case basis in regards to specific business needs. Numbers of passes issued directly to non-civil servants for access to departmental buildings will fluctuate over the course of a year.

Social Services: Finance

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answers of 9 January 2017 to Question 58515 and of 18 January 2017 to Question 59298, what plans he has to equalise the payment ratio of new homes bonuses in two-tier local authority areas to help fund social care; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government has reformed the New Homes Bonus, and the distribution of funding specifically for adult social care was set out in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement on 15 December 2016.

Sleeping Rough

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to reduce the number of homeless rough sleepers in (a) Coventry and (b) England in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to doing all we can to prevent homelessness. This government is determined to help the most vulnerable in society, which is why we're investing over £550 million until 2020 to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.As part of this, in December we announced 84 successful bids to our £50 million Homelessness Prevention Programme. This will help those people at risk of becoming homeless, already sleeping rough or those with complex needs, to get back on their feet.We provided Coventry with £106,089 in homelessness prevention funding in 2016/17. This funding ensures that local authorities are able to provide quality advice and assistance to everyone who approaches them for help.

Birmingham Airport

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Urban Growth Company takes account of the potential contribution of Birmingham Airport to UK trade.

Andrew Percy: This Government is working with all areas with HS2 stations in order that they maximise the opportunity for growth. This includes Solihull, which will benefit from a new interchange station close to Birmingham Airport. In order that the area can deliver key projects that will underpin local growth, Solihull Council has established the Urban Growth Company. The growth company aims to deliver 35,000 jobs, 3,500 homes and an increase in GVA of £1 billion.The Urban Growth Company is now preparing a Growth and Infrastructure Plan which includes growth opportunities associated with Jaguar Land Rover, Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre and the proposed HS2 station. This plan is being developed with local stakeholders, including Birmingham Airport. This work will inform the current review of the Solihull Local Plan, and any proposals will be subject to the normal planning process.

Job Creation: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many jobs have been created in Ashfield constituency as a result of funding from the European Regional Development Fund since that fund's inception.

Andrew Percy: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Aerospace Growth Partnership

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made by the Aerospace Growth Partnership.

Jesse Norman: The Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP) has proved a highly successful partnership between Government and the industry. Together we have committed £3.9 billion for aerospace research and development through to 2026, to provide the industry with the certainty it needs to invest, and created the Aerospace Technology Institute to provide expert, market aligned advice to strategically deploy this funding. The AGP has also launched the UK Aerospace Supply Chain Competitiveness Charter; increased supplier involvement in the ‘Supply Chains for the 21st Century’ operational excellence programme; supported expansion of the ‘Sharing in Growth’ intensive performance improvement programme to over 60 companies’; and has worked to encourage innovation in SMEs via the National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme.

EURATOM

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of leaving the European Atomic Energy Community on the construction of Hinkley Point C.

Jesse Norman: Holding answer received on 02 February 2017



Maintaining the UK’s ability to trade in nuclear materials and equipment will be a key objective in negotiations to allow the uninterrupted progress of the UK’s nuclear programme, which includes the construction of Hinkley Point C. Those negotiations have not yet started, but officials and Ministers are in regular contact with industry stakeholders and will continue to work closely with them as the negotiations progress.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the commercial viability of the methods proposed by recent research and development on reducing the costs of carbon capture technology by up to two-thirds in the (a) UK and (b) rest of the world.

Jesse Norman: The Department has commissioned a study, “Assessing the cost reduction potential and competitiveness of novel (next generation) UK carbon capture technology,” to determine how the Department can support next generation carbon capture technology in future innovation programme funding and support cost reduction in carbon capture. The study will complete in autumn 2017.In addition, the UK is a member of Mission Innovation, and participating in the Carbon Capture Innovation Challenge [1] which seeks to identify breakthrough technologies and research and development opportunities in carbon capture technology with the aim of lowering costs and facilitating global carbon capture and storage deployment.[1] http://mission-innovation.net/our-work/innovation-challenges/carbon-capture-challenge/

Tidal Power

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the merits of encouraging the development of tidal lagoons to provide energy; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Government is considering the recommendations in the Hendry Review and the issues which arise from a broader programme. Government will require a period of time to assess the merits of such a programme and determine what is in the best interest of the UK energy consumer and taxpayer in the long term, and will publish its response to the Hendry Review in due course.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Senior Civil Servants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) ethnicity, (b) gender, (c) disability status, (d) educational background and (e) socio-economic status is of the three most senior officials of his Department.

Margot James: Due to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 which protects individuals’ personal information and data, this information is being withheld.

Energy: Prices

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to respond to the recommendations of the Competition and Market Authority report on the energy sector, published in December 2016.

Margot James: The Government is carefully considering the recommendations of the Competition and Market Authority and will be responding soon.

Regional Airports

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will bring forward funding proposals to support the growth of regional airports as part of the industrial strategy.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government welcomes the ambition of airports across the UK to invest in their infrastructure to enable services to more destinations, and better facilities and choice for passengers. As part of the Aviation Strategy we will consider how they can best utilise their existing capacity to allow the growth of both domestic and international connectivity.In addition, the Industrial Strategy Green Paper seeks views on how infrastructure needs across the country can be most effectively incorporated within national infrastructure policy.

Regional Growth Fund

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much Ashfield constituency has received from the Regional Growth Fund since that fund's inception; and what the average funding per parliamentary constituency has been over that period.

Margot James: The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) has provided £2.6bn of support via individual projects, or regional/national programmes across England. Whilst none of the individual projects were in the Ashfield constituency, RGF programmes including the Nottingham City Growth Fund; the University of Nottingham N2 Business Growth Programme; the University of Derby Invest to Innovate Fund and the Textiles Growth Programme all offered support to the Nottingham area.

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of how much the Government will receive from the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

Jesse Norman: The Government, in its role as Guarantor, is due to receive £51m from the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme in each of the above years.

Green Investment Bank

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information was supplied to each bidder who expressed an interest in purchasing UK Green Investment Bank on the assets, structures and investments of that bank; and whether that information was supplied in the same form to each bidder.

Mr Nick Hurd: As set out in the Government’s report to Parliament on 3rd March 2016 entitled “Green Investment Bank: sale of shares”, parties that met the qualifying requirements set out in the bidder information form were supplied with a confidential Information Memorandum with further information on GIB’s business and also a process letter that explained how the sale process would be conducted and further information that would be provided during the sale process. In the first round, bidders were asked to submit non-binding initial bids based on the confidential Information Memorandum and Round 1 information. The proposals received were evaluated and selected parties invited to proceed to the second round of the process. At this stage, potential bidders were provided with detailed additional information to enable them to carry out due diligence on GIB. Bidders were also given access to confidential data with further detailed due diligence reports, transaction documents and received presentations about the business plan and investments from GIB’s management team, as well as having an option to make use of a question & answer process. Following due diligence, interested parties were invited to submit formal, final and binding offers. All bidders were provided with equal opportunity to access the same information at each stage in the process.

Solar Power: Profitability

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what comparative assessment he has made of the profitability of the solar panel industry in the UK in (a) 2016 and (b) 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: Over 11GW of solar capacity has been installed since 2010, and approximately 6GW was installed in 2015 and 2016. Support for solar installations comes directly from consumer bills, and the Government has accordingly taken steps to control the costs of support schemes and have put solar on a path to subsidy-free deployment.The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not undertake comparative assessments of the profitability of the solar panel industry, but the cost of solar PV has fallen over both 2015 and 2016. Between April 2015 and March 2016, the mean cost per kilowatt of a solar PV installation ranged from £1,587 to £2,025, which was on average 11.5 per cent lower than the previous year.Source: Solar PV cost data, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solar-pv-cost-data

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Libya: Sanctions

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the reported agreement between the Libyan Central Bank and the Government of National Accord and its effect on sanctions; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We welcome the progress made at recent Libyan economic dialogue meetings in London, Rome and Tunis. The approval by the Libyan Presidency Council (PC) of the budget for 2017 is an important step towards an effective economic policy addressing the most urgent needs of Libya's population.Following action under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 (2011), Council Regulation (EU) No 204/2011 of 2 March 2011 (consolidated by Council Regulation (EU) No 44/2016) imposed an asset freeze against listed individuals and entities in view of the situation in Libya. The UN Security Council has stipulated that when these are unfrozen, they will be made available to, and for the benefit of the Libyan people. For the duration of time that these assets are frozen, they and any interest they accrue will be governed in accordance with the specific sanctions in place over the individuals or entities to which the assets belong.

Gibraltar Government

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many times he has met the Chief Minister of Gibraltar since 23 June 2016.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK is committed to fully involving Gibraltar as we prepare for the UK's exit from the EU. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) has met the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, twice since the referendum. Additionally, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), the Minister of State for Exiting the EU, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) and the Minister of State for International Trade, my right hon. Friend the Member for Woodspring (Mr Fox), have all met the Chief Minister since 23 June, and I, as Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, have done so on three occasions.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library a list of public consultations, White Papers and other documents his Department plans to publish to assist the UK in making effective the Government's plans for the UK to leave the EU within the two year timetable from the triggering of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, along with other Government Departments, but especially the Department for Exiting the European Union, is working on a wide range of issues to prepare for the UK’s exit from the EU.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 30 January 2017, Official Report, column 653, whether the action of the coalition in Yemen is supported by UN Security Council resolution 2216 (2015); and which of the provisions of that resolution authorises the level of force used by the coalition.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: As set out in UN Security Council Resolution 2216, the UN Security Council continues to support President Hadi and his government as the legitimate authority in Yemen. The Saudi Arabian-led Coalition military intervention came at the request of President Hadi, to deter aggression by the Houthis, and allow for the return of the legitimate Yemeni government.

Islamic State: Military Intervention

Robert Courts: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on progress in the campaign against Daesh.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are in frequent contact with our coalition partners, as we reach a key phase in the campaign against Daesh.The Prime Minister, the member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) discussed Daesh with President Trump during her visit to Washington DC on 27th January and with President Erdogan and Prime Minister Yildrim during her visit to Turkey the following day, reaffirming our commitment to work together to fight Daesh.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Staff

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many former prisoners have been employed by his Department in each of the last five years.

Sir Alan Duncan: Having security clearance is a prerequisite for employment with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Spent and unspent criminal convictions are inspected as part of security clearance checks.We do not keep data on the number of staff or new entrants who have a criminal record and/or spent time in prison.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Elections

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the transition of power resulting from planned presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2017.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We welcome the political deal signed on 31 December between the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the main political parties. As I said in a statement on 6 January, it is imperative that this deal is implemented as soon as possible so that elections can take place this year. The UK will work to ensure that the elections will be free and fair and collaborate with international partners to support a peaceful transfer of power once the new President has been elected.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Senior Civil Servants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the (a) ethnicity, (b) gender, (c) disability status, (d) educational background and (e) socio-economic status is of the three most senior officials of his Department.

Sir Alan Duncan: The information requested is personal data and as such we are unable to provide it because doing so would breach the right to confidentiality of those concerned.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Pay

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the total pay bill was for (a) male and (b) female employees in his Department in 2015-16; and what the per capita spend from that pay bill for each man and woman was in that year.

Sir Alan Duncan: Total and per capita salaries for male and female staff in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at 31 March 2016 were:​Gender​Total salaries​Per capita salary (average)​Female​£66,636,263​£35,923​Male​£100,958,263​£41,376 Our salary scales apply equally to male and female staff. The difference in average salaries is caused by a lower representation of women in the senior levels. We have made progress, we currently have our highest number of female heads of mission and more than half of the FCO Management board are women.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Brexit

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will place in the Library a list of public consultations, White Paper and other documents his Department plans to publish to assist the UK in making effective the Government's plans for the UK to leave the EU within the two year timetable from the triggering of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

James Brokenshire: Following their publication, my Department will place in the Library any public consultations or White Papers it publishes relevant to the United Kingdom’s preparation for a successful exit from the European Union.

Northern Ireland Office: Staff

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many former prisoners have been employed by his Department in each of the last five years.

Kris Hopkins: The Northern Ireland Office has not employed any former prisoners in any of the last five years.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which persons not employed by his Department hold security passes entitling them to enter his Department's premises.

Mr David Jones: Civil servants have to have the ability to work flexibly across government sites where there is a business need to do so. The issuing of all passes is controlled by the local Departmental Security teams. Passes can also be issued to contractors or secondees based within Government premises on a case by case basis in regards to specific business needs. Numbers of passes issued directly to non-civil servants for access to departmental buildings will fluctuate over the course of a year.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Overtime

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many hours of recorded overtime have been worked by staff in his Department since its creation.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what systems are in place to monitor overtime worked by his Department's employees.

Mr David Jones: The Department for Exiting the European Union is committed to ensuring staff maintain a work-life balance. The department has flexible working policies in place to facilitate this to avoid excess working hours. All overtime is pre-agreed with line managers with 48 hours notice and is managed locally so no central records are held.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Recruitment

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2017 to Question 60441, approximately how many more staff he needs to recruit to his Department.

Mr David Jones: All departments are equipping themselves with the resources they need to get the best deal for the UK. As recruitment is ongoing we will not be giving a running commentary. The overall size and scope of the new department, including staffing, is regularly reviewed. We will ensure we are appropriately staffed to deal with the task at hand. The Department for Exiting the European Union now has over 300 staff.

Political Parties: Northern Ireland

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he has had with the main opposition parties in Northern Ireland.

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps is he taking to ensure that each of the four main political parties in Northern Ireland continue to be consulted on his Department's work while the Assembly is dissolved.

Mr Robin Walker: Ministers in the Department for Exiting the European Union are fully engaged on issues related to Northern Ireland. Both the Secretary of State and I have visited Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland keeps closely engaged on a range of issues of mutual interest and concern with Northern Ireland’s political parties and independents, including on the subject of the UK’s exit from the EU. This engagement includes parties that opted not to join the outgoing Executive.We want to hear views from all parts of the United Kingdom. The Joint Ministerial Committee on EU Negotiations (JMC(EN)) has met on a monthly basis since its inception, and will continue to meet regularly to understand and consider each administration’s priorities; to seek to agree a UK approach to, and objectives for, negotiations, and to consider proposals put forward by the devolved administrations. The Joint Ministerial Committee is also meeting more frequently in plenary format: the Prime Minister has chaired two meetings since the referendum. Representatives from the DUP and Sinn Fein both attended JMC(P) on Monday 30th January and have attended every JMC(EN). Northern Ireland Executive Ministers remain in place until any election and discussions can continue. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland continues to undertake discussions with all of the main political parties and independents in Northern Ireland.The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Prime Minister are fully committed to ensuring that as we establish our negotiating position the unique interests of Northern Ireland are protected and advanced. They have a clear understanding of the range of views from across Northern Ireland and will continue to champion NI’s interests over the coming months.We want to see the political situation in NI resolved and Assembly government continuing and that is what the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is working hard to achieve.Ministers in our Department will continue to seek the views of all communities and parties in Northern Ireland.

European Medicines Agency

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the cost to the public purse of the European Medicines Agency physically leaving its current location in the UK.

Mr David Jones: No decisions have been taken about the location of the European Medicines Agency. As part of the exit negotiations the Government will discuss with the EU and Member States how best to continue cooperation in the field of medicines regulation in the best interests of both the UK and the EU. It would not be appropriate to prejudge the outcome of the negotiations.

Brexit

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Government has taken legal advice on the possibility of reversing a trigger of Article 50.

Mr David Jones: There is no precedent for a country triggering Article 50, let alone seeking to reverse such a decision. But as a matter of policy the Government’s view is that once given, our notification will not be withdrawn. A clear majority of the electorate voted to leave the EU and we will respect the will of the British people.

Department for International Development

Occupied Territories: Demolition

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to seek redress for the demolition by the government of Israel of structures in the Occupied Palestinian Territories which were built with assistance from the UK.

Rory Stewart: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 16 November 2016.The correct answer should have been:

No structures directly funded by the UK in recent years have been demolished. The UK regularly raises demolitions with the government of Israel.

Rory Stewart: No structures directly funded by the UK in recent years have been demolished. The UK regularly raises demolitions with the government of Israel.

Occupied Territories: Demolition

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2016 to Question 907180, on occupied territories: demolition, how many structures built with some financial assistance from the UK have been demolished by the Israeli government; and how much UK funding was provided for those structures.

Rory Stewart: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 22 November 2016.The correct answer should have been:

As the answer to Question 907180 states, no structures directly funded by the UK in recent years have been demolished. Since 2009 approximately 180 structures funded by the European Union’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office (ECHO) have been demolished or confiscated. The UK regularly raises its concerns about demolitions with the Government of Israel.

Rory Stewart: As the answer to Question 907180 states, no structures directly funded by the UK in recent years have been demolished. Since 2009 approximately 180 structures funded by the European Union’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office (ECHO) have been demolished or confiscated. The UK regularly raises its concerns about demolitions with the Government of Israel.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to monitor and report on the effect of its nutrition investment programmes in low and middle income countries.

James Wharton: DFID monitors and publishes reviews on all its nutrition programmes in low and middle income countries on an annual basis. For example, DFID’s programme in northern Nigeria aims to reduce stunting and wasting by at least 4% over 7 years and includes investment with partners to monitor impact. DFID is also building the capacity of governments to collect and use nutrition data effectively. DFID supports the Global Nutrition Report which tracks progress to reduce undernutrition globally.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to encourage other donors to scale up nutrition investment programmes to tackle malnutrition in high-burden countries.

James Wharton: DFID is encouraging donors to prioritise nutrition, through the G7, the Scaling Up Nutrition movement, and through bilateral channels. We are encouraging both increased nutrition specific work as well as a greater nutrition focus in donors’ broader development work. We are also tracking Nutrition for Growth commitments through the Global Nutrition Report.

Syria: Overseas Aid

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, who aid partner reference GB-1-205059 is whom her Department funds to provide food and winter items in Syria.

Rory Stewart: In 2016/17 DFID is funding 17 organisations delivering life-saving humanitarian support in Syria. These include UN agencies, international non-governmental organisations and the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement. We have agreed with the specified partner not to disclose publicly their identity because doing so could put their staff at risk.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of withdrawing aid to middle-income countries on achieving the sustainable development goal to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

James Wharton: The UK relies on reports and data produced by UNAIDS and other partners such as the World Health Organisation to assess progress on ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.The UK is increasingly working with multilateral partners such as the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, that have the capacity to deliver the large-scale, low-cost programmes needed in HIV burdened regions in the most effective way and at the best value to the taxpayer. Middle Income Countries are due to receive nearly 50% of all Global Fund resources from 2017-2019, to which the UK has made a significant investment of £1.1 billion.

Yemen: Ports

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that adequate port infrastructure is in place at Al Hudaydah port and other ports in Yemen for the transmission of international aid to the Yemeni people.

Rory Stewart: The UK Government is discussing short-term options to improve port infrastructure in Hodeidah with Gulf countries, the US and the UN. We are also monitoring port capacity across the country.We are also calling on all parties to the conflict to protect civilian infrastructure, including Hodeidah port, from further damage; and to restart political talks in order to end the conflict.

Andargachew Tsege

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she had with the Foreign Secretary on the case of Andy Tsege prior to her recent visit to Ethiopia.

James Wharton: The Secretary of State for International Development regularly meets with the Foreign Secretary and was briefed by him on the case. The case was raised during the Secretary of State’s recent visit to Ethiopia.

Department for Education

Apprentices: Standards

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2016 to Question 56283, if she will set out all of the apprenticeship standards which specifically address skill shortages in the green economy sector.

Robert Halfon: A list of all apprenticeship standards available for employers and training organisations is available on the gov.uk website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-standards-list-of-occupations-available These include standards focused on occupations specific to the green economy such as Dual Fuel Smart Meter Installer, Junior Energy Manager, Community Energy Specialist and Thermal Insulation Operative.

Academies

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the financial effect on schools of the abandonment of her Department's policy of compulsory academisation.

Nick Gibb: Through our careful management of the economy we have been able to protect the core schools budget in real terms. That means schools are receiving more funding than ever before for children’s education, totalling over £40 billion this year.We remain committed to seeing all schools, over time, become academies. The Department continues to support schools to convert and, in particular, support sponsors to turn around failing schools and to enable strong and effective multi-academy trusts to grow and improve.New academies and free schools will continue to receive a pre-opening grant to support the costs of opening. Rates vary based on school type, from a £25,000 grant for a converter academy, to £80,000-150,000 for secondary schools becoming sponsored academies, where the grant supports costs of school improvement as well as conversion.We also provide post-opening funding for new full sponsored academies to contribute towards leadership and other costs as new academies build up their pupil numbers. This ranges from £10,000 to £80,200, depending on the number of pupils on roll at opening as compared to the academy’s capacity.

Academies: Finance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason her Department plans to return budgetary provision allocated to supporting the costs of academisation to HM Treasury.

Nick Gibb: Through our careful management of the economy we have been able to protect the core schools budget in real terms. That means schools are receiving more funding than ever before for children’s education, totalling over £40 billion this year.When the Government launched our Educational Excellence Everywhere White Paper, it was clear that we would listen and reflect on the discussions. After listening to the sector, in May 2016 the Department confirmed that it would no longer be pursuing full academisation by 2022. Removing the absolute time pressure changes the scale of financial support we need to make available over the remainder of this ParliamentIt remains the Government’s ambition that the whole school system ultimately benefits from the autonomy and freedom to innovate that academy status brings, and that schools work together in collaboration through strong multi-academy trusts. The Department still has sufficient funding – voted during the Spending Review – to ensure schools can take advantage of the opportunities available by becoming an academy. This includes funding to support schools to convert and to build capacity in the system, including recruiting excellent sponsors and encouraging the development of strong multi-academy trusts.

Academies

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 May 2016 to Question HL8119, how much of the £300 million (a) set aside to support schools to convert and support sponsors to turn around failing schools and (b) to support strong and effective multi-academy trusts to grow and improve has been (i) spent by her Department and (ii) returned to the public purse.

Nick Gibb: Through our careful management of the economy we have been able to protect the core schools budget in real terms. That means schools are receiving more funding than ever before for children’s education, totalling over £40 billion this year.When the Government launched our Educational Excellence Everywhere white paper, it was clear that we would attend to and reflect on the discussions around it. After listening to the sector, in May 2016 the Department confirmed that it would no longer be pursuing full academisation by 2022.It remains our ambition that all schools will become academies, but removing the requirement for this to happen by 2022 means that our spending on school support will depend on the new rate of academy conversion. We are monitoring this and will allocate funds according to the expected rate and need. Indicatively, in 2016-17 we expect to spend around £90 million on supporting schools to convert, supporting sponsors to turn around the schools they take on, and supporting strong multi-academy trusts to deliver higher academic standards for pupils.

Department for Education: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which persons not employed by her Department and its agencies hold security passes entitling them to enter her Department's premises.

Caroline Dinenage: Civil servants have to have the ability to work flexibly across Government sites where there is a business need to do so. The issuing of all passes is controlled by the local Departmental Security teams. Passes can also be issued to contractors or secondees based within Government premises on a case by case basis in regards to specific business needs. Numbers of passes issued directly to non-civil servants for access to departmental buildings will fluctuate over the course of a year.

Integrated Schools: Northern Ireland

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what account her Department took during preparation of its Green Paper, Schools that Work for Everyone, published in September 2016, of the work of the Integrated Education Fund; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Schools that Work for Everyone consultation sought views on what steps we can take to create a more diverse school system in which more children have the opportunity to go to better schools, whatever their background.The proposals in the consultation document, support our policy ambition to increase the number of good school places. In particular, the document sets out a number of proposals to ensure that faith free schools promote inclusivity, enhance understanding of other faiths and those with no faith; promote community cohesion and properly prepare children and young people for life in modern Britain. The formation of these proposals took into account a wide range of research and analysis. We continue to engage with emerging evidence and research as we analyse the responses to the consultation which closed on 12 December 2016 and will consider the Work of the Integrated Schools Fund in Northern Ireland.We expect to announce our formal response to the consultation in the spring.

Ministry of Justice

Magistrates' Courts: ICT

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much her Department has spent on developing and testing electronic file covers for magistrates' courts.

Sir Oliver Heald: The Department spent approximately £145,000 developing and testing electronic file covers for magistrates’ courts. This figure includes both supplier and staff costs. These costs were incurred over the period May 2014 to September 2015.

Rendition

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much her Department has paid to claimants in (a) cases and (b) settlements of cases relating to rendition since 1997.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many legal cases related to rendition her Department has defended since 1997.

Sir Oliver Heald: We do not hold such information centrally, but the department has no knowledge of any such claim or payment.

Ministry of Justice: Brexit

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will place in the Library a list of public consultations, White Papers and other documents her Department plans to publish to assist the UK in making effective the Government's plans for the UK to leave the EU within the two year timetable from the triggering of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Sir Oliver Heald: On 2 February the Government published a White Paper setting out its objectives and plans for the new partnership we want to build with the EU. Following their publication, my Department will place in the Library any public consultations or White Papers it publishes relevant to the United Kingdom’s preparation for a successful exit from the European Union.

Church Commissioners

Church Commissioners: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, how many security passes into the Church Commissioners are issued to people (a) not directly employed by and (b) who are not civil servants who work in the Church Commissioners.

Dame Caroline Spelman: Most of the people who work at Church House, Westminster are not employed solely by the Church Commissioners. Staff of the National Church Institutions (NCIs) which include the Church Commissioners are mostly employed jointly by the Institutions.In that context I refer the Hon Gentleman to my previous answer to question 62530 answered on 06 February 2017 which stated that only NCI employees enjoy full access to our premises and that other groups have limited and time-limited access. These groups include diocesan bishops, members of General Synod, contractors and tenants.A) To date the percentage of passes issued to NCIs staff is 56.24%B) None of the staff of the NCIs are civil servants.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Digital Technology: Hemsworth

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of digitally excluded people resident in Hemsworth constituency; and what assessment she has made of the effects of digital exclusion on their capacity to bank online safely and effectively.

Matt Hancock: We do not hold data for the number of digitally excluded people resident in the Hemsworth constituency specifically, however the ONS statistical bulletin ‘Internet users in the UK: 2016’ (https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/itandinternetindustry/bulletins/internetusers/2016) indicates an estimated 10.9% of adults in the surrounding area of Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield had never used the internet or had last used the internet more than three months previously. This compares to an estimated 12% of adults in the UK who had never used the internet or had last used the internet more than three months previously. The Government recognises the effect digital exclusion has on individuals and their ability to confidently use the internet, including their capacity to bank online safely and effectively. The Government is actively tackling the barriers to inclusion, working with cross-sector partners, including in the banking sector, to promote the financial, social, health and wellbeing benefits of being online. Some banks are directly addressing digital exclusion. For example, Lloyds and Barclays have trained their staff to support digitally excluded people.

Broadband

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's news story of 22 December 2016, how the £440 million made available for superfast rural broadband will be (a) allocated between and (b) managed by local authorities.

Matt Hancock: The money will be returned to local authorities through their existing broadband contracts, based on the levels of savings achieved and levels of take-up, and will be available for them to reinvest in further superfast rollout.

Broadband: Coventry South

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of how many premises in Coventry South constituency do not have access to superfast broadband.

Matt Hancock: There are approximately 45,750 premises in the constituency of Coventry South. Over 89% of the constituency can currently get superfast broadband, with just over 4900 premises without superfast availability at the moment.

Museums and Galleries

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure the museum sector contributes to her Department's tourism-related objectives.

Tracey Crouch: Museums play an important role in contributing to tourism across the country. According to the International Passenger Survey 27% of international visits to the UK involve a trip to a museum or gallery.DCMS is supporting the growth of tourism through a number of activities related to museums including:DCMS sponsored national museums and galleries are encouraged to work with regional museums through their funding agreements with DCMS. The sponsorship of Arts Council England (ACE), the national body which supports museums and galleries in England. This includes ACE’s investment of £3m into a new Cultural Destinations programme, to enable arts and culture organisations working in partnership with destination management organisations to increase their reach, engagement and resilience through working with the tourism sectorAll of these actions support the Prime Minister’s Tourism Action Plan published in August 2016, a key aim of which is to grow tourism throughout the country.

Commonwealth Games

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on England hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2026; and if she will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch: The UK has demonstrated time and again its abilities in hosting major sporting events and the department is committed to maintaining the nation’s reputation for world-class event delivery. We are aware there are cities interested in hosting the Commonwealth Games and officials have been in discussions to establish the financial and technical feasibility of bringing the Games back to the UK in the future.

Foundation for Social Improvement

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding the Government has awarded to the Foundation for Social Improvement since that charity was founded.

Mr Rob Wilson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not hold data on the total value of grants or contracts made across Government. The functions of the Office for Civil Society (OCS), were transferred to DCMS effective 21st July 2016. Since 1st April 2008 to date OCS has awarded £148,076 in grants and contracts to the Foundation for Social Improvement. DCMS does not hold any information relating to grants or contracts made by OCS to the FSI before 1st April 2008. The rest of DCMS has not awarded any grants or made any payment to the FSI since it was founded in 2007

Foundation for Social Improvement

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on how many separate occasions her Department has awarded (a) grants and (b) contracts to the Foundation for Social Improvement.

Mr Rob Wilson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has made two (2) grant awards and one (1) contract award to the Foundation for Social Improvement since it was founded in 2007.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 25 January 2017, column 295, what extra money the Government has put into reducing the changes in women's pensions; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: During the passage of the Pensions Bill 2011, the Government has made a concession worth £1.1 billion to limit the impact of State Pension age increases for those women most affected by them. As a consequence, no women will experience increases of more than 18 months compared to the previous timetable.

Jobcentres: Rotherham

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when an Equality Impact Assessment will be published on the proposal to close Goldthorpe jobcentre.

Damian Hinds: We will be undertaking an equality analysis as part of the detailed planning for service reconfiguration. This will include feedback from public consultation in those locations where this applies.

Children: Maintenance

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is the Government's policy to encourage parents to use the Child Maintenance Services collect and pay service.

Caroline Nokes: The principal aim of the child maintenance reforms is to encourage parents to work together to set up their maintenance arrangement. The free Child Maintenance Options Service provides help and support to parents to set up a collaborative arrangement either through a family based arrangement, or on the statutory scheme using Direct Pay. For those parents who are unable to work together, or do not meet their maintenance obligations, the Collect and Pay service is available.

Children: Poverty

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the benefit freeze on trends in the level of child poverty.

Damian Hinds: This Government is committed to building a country that works for everyone. That is why our forthcoming Green Paper will identify and address the root causes of child poverty, building on the new statutory indicators of parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment set out in the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. We know that work is the best route out of poverty. The Government’s welfare reforms – including the measures in that Act to increase work incentives and reduce welfare dependency – are working. We now have the lowest rate of unemployment in over a decade, and the lowest number of workless households since records began. 557,000 fewer children are now living in workless households than in 2010. There is clear evidence that good quality work is linked to better physical and mental health and improved wellbeing, and better parental health is associated with better outcomes for children. The Government is also increasing the National Living Wage to £9 an hour by 2020, helping give lower earners their fastest pay rise in 20 years.

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on uprating the state pension for UK pensioners living in the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on UK pensioners living elsewhere in the EU.

Richard Harrington: The reciprocal rights and entitlements that will apply following the UK’s exit are subject to the wider negotiation on our future relationship with the EU. We have not yet begun these negotiations, and so it is not possible to set out any positions in advance.

State Retirement Pensions

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on maintaining the triple lock on the state pension.

Richard Harrington: The government is committed to maintaining the triple lock for the duration of this Parliament. The triple lock has protected the incomes of millions of pensioners. This means that between April 2011 and April 2016 the basic State Pension rose by £570 more in 2016/17 than if it had just been uprated by earnings since April 2011.

Department for Work and Pensions: Senior Civil Servants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) ethnicity, (b) gender, (c) disability status, (d) educational background and (e) socio-economic status is of the three most senior officials of his Department.

Caroline Nokes: DWP’s Executive Team is made up of eight members: six men and two women. We would not be able to report on their ethnicity, disability status or educational background as this is classed as sensitive personal data which has legal protection under the Data Protection Act 1998.We are unable to report on their socio-economic background as there is currently no commonly agreed definition for socio-economic background across the Civil Service.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Avian Influenza

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to control bird flu since the recent outbreak of that virus.

George Eustice: Our immediate and robust actions include: An Avian Influenza Prevention Zone which was put in place on 6 December and covers all of England. The Prevention Zone requires the compulsory housing of all poultry and captive birds or, where this is not possible, separation from wild birds. This will expire on 28th February and announcements on next steps will be made in due course;A ban on poultry gatherings to guard against spread;Enhanced wild bird surveillance around wetland areas by key partners;The clear expectation in widely available guidance that all keepers must exercise the highest biosecurity standards. All measures are being kept under constant review.Upon confirmation of disease, a 10 km Surveillance Zone and an inner Protection Zone of 3 km are put in place around each infected premises. The Protection and Surveillance Zones impose movement restrictions on poultry and other potentially contaminated material.Susceptible animals on the infected premises are humanely culled and their carcasses and any other contaminated products of animal origin are then safely disposed of.

Trapping: Crime Prevention

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to prevent the use of gin traps; if she will review the penalties available for those who use or possess such traps; and if she will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Pests Act 1954 prohibits the use, possession or sale of gin traps for the purpose of killing or taking animals. The police are responsible for enforcing the Pests Act 1954. Decisions on the allocation of police resources and on the arrest and prosecution of those taking part in illegal activities are a matter for the police and prosecuting authorities.   The penalty on conviction of these offences is a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale; this is currently £1000. Within the maximum limits it is up to the court to decide the appropriate sentence in any case, having taken into account the facts of the case. There are currently no plans to increase these penalties.

Fairtrade Initiative

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will take steps to encourage more consumers to buy Fairtrade produce.

George Eustice: The Government is committed to supporting Fairtrade around the world. Over the last six years, the Department for International Development (DfID) has provided £18 million to Fairtrade International to support their work and strengthen the global Fairtrade system. This includes Fairtrade producer and worker organisations that are the drivers of inclusive economic, environmental and social development in their communities around the world. DfID continues to actively engage with Fairtrade on a variety of projects and campaigns, such as the forthcoming Fairtrade Fortnight from 27 February to 12 March.

Animal Products: Subsidies

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Producer Support Estimate is for beef, lamb and dairy products in the UK.

George Eustice: The Producer Support Estimate (PSE) is a statistic produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as part of its annual report “Monitoring and Evaluation of Agricultural Policies”. The PSE represents policy transfers to agricultural producers, measured at the farm gate and expressed as a share of gross farm receipts. Within the PSE the EU is treated as a single country; there are no figures for individual sectors or individual Member States.   In the OECD’s most recent report the PSE for the EU for 2013-15 was 19% (measured as a percentage of gross farm receipts) or €84.6bn.

Home Office

Vetting

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how (a) much funding was allocated to and (b) many staff were employed by the (i) Independent Safeguarding Authority, (ii) Criminal Records Bureau in each year till December 2012 and (iii) Disclosure and Barring Service in each year since December 2012.

Sarah Newton: Tables (i), (ii) and (iii) provide the total funding allocated to the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), by the Home Office for the last eight financial years. The figures for the ISA and CRB are provided up to 1 December 2012 when these organisations ceased to exist, following the creation of the DBS. Data is only partially available prior to 2008-09 and cannot be obtained without incurring a disproportionate cost. Table (i) - ISAApril – 30 Nov 20122011-122010-112009-102008-09£m£m£m£m£m8.512.312.913.711.7 Table (ii) – CRB*April – 1 Dec 20122011-122010-112009-102008-09£m£m£m£m£m2.51.94.111.42.9 Table (iii) – DBS*2014-152013-141 Dec – Mar 2012-13£m£m£m11.122.15.4 *The CRB and DBS are self funding, the figures therefore relate to the Home Office capital allocation to CRB and DBS. The ISA figures relate to the Grant in Aid provided by the Home Office. It is important to note that, as fee-funded organisations, the CRB and DBS receive the majority of their income from fees. Table (iv) provides the average number of full time equivalent staff the DBS, ISA and CRB employed during each of the last eight financial years.Table (iv)Staff numbers2014-152013-14Dec – Mar 2012-13Apr – Dec 2012-12*2011-122010-112009-102008-09DBS745721730 ISA   268272287255144CRB   4835426676145692015-16 data for the DBS is due to be published shortly.

Asylum: Cambridge

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for how many (a) Case Assurance and Audit Unit and (b) legacy cases her Department has records of people who reside in Cambridge.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Data on the numbers of asylum seekers specifically in Cambridge cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost because checks of individual records would be required.

Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to ratify the Lanzarote Convention.

Sarah Newton: The Government takes its international commitments very seriously and will only commit to formal ratification when it is satisfied that it is in a position to do so Officials are finalising assessments of what needs to be done under domestic legislation and practical arrangements, before the whole of the UK can be assessed to be in a position to ratify the Convention.

Dual Nationality: Republic of Ireland

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of UK citizens who have applied for dual Irish-UK nationality since 23 June 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: No statistical information is available showing whether British citizens hold another citizenship.

Animal Experiments

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on bringing forward legislative proposals that will further regulate and limit animal testing after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Ben Wallace: The European Directive 2010/63/EU which covers this area, was transposed into UK law and took effect from 1 January 2013. That legislation will continue to regulate the work of scientists and research in the UK after the Great Repeal Bill takes effect. We will consider whether the UK’s future relationship with Europe requires legislative change in due course.

Dual Nationality: Republic of Ireland

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Irish citizens have applied for UK citizenship since 23 June 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Information on applications for British citizenship by nationality is published quarterly here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2016/list-of-tables#citizenship

Domestic Violence

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reported instances of domestic violence there have been in (a) the London Borough of Newham, (b) Greater London and (c) the UK in each year since 2010.

Sarah Newton: Information on the number of police recorded domestic abuse related offences and domestic abuse incidents for 2015/16 were published in the cross-Governmental bulletin ‘Domestic abuse in England and Wales’ which can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/domesticabuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2016 Information prior to 2015/16 is only available for domestic abuse incidents. These data are not comparable with the latest year as they were collected on a different basis. Data can be found in the ‘Focus on: Violent Crime and Sexual Offences’ bulletin available here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/compendium/focusonviolentcrimeandsexualoffences/yearendingmarch2015. Increases in police domestic abuse incidents over recent years are thought to be due to police forces improving their identification and recording of these incidents and more victims coming forward to report these crimes. Information on domestic abuse is also available from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. The Office for National Statistics report that while recent changes on the prevalence of domestic abuse are not statistically significant, over the longer-term the underlying trend is downwards.

Overseas Students: Entry Clearances

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Immigration of 23 January 2017, Official Report, column 15, what her Department's policy is on the number of international students who will be given leave to study at UK universities in each of the next five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: There is no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come to study in the United Kingdom. The Government has no plans to change this.

Ministry of Defence

Internment: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the undertaking given by the then Attorney-General on 8 February 1977, that the five techniques of questioning used in Northern Ireland in 1971, have not in any circumstances been reintroduced since then as an aid to interrogation; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The undertaking made in 1977 continues to be Government policy, but it was regrettably breached on occasions during operations in Iraq in circumstances described fully in the Report of the Baha Mousa Inquiry (HC1452) published on 8 September 2011. Remedial action to prevent any recurrence was taken in accordance with the recommendations of the Inquiry.

Armed Forces: Discharges

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel who have left the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) Royal Air Force have left for the reason of (i) voluntary outflow, (ii) time expiry, (iii) redundancy and (iv) other wastage in each of the last five years.

Mark Lancaster: Defence Statistics publish information on a regular basis showing military outflow. Statistics for the 12 months ending 31 March 2014 through to the 12 months ending 30 November 2016 are available in Excel Table 5d of the ‘UK Armed Forces Monthly Service Personnel Statistics December 2016’ which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-2016 Outflow figures from the 12 months ending 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013 for the Armed Forces may be found in the UK Armed Forces Quarterly Personnel Reports in the tables entitled ‘Outflow from trained UK Regular Forces officers by exit reason’ and ‘Outflow from trained UK Regular Forces other ranks by exit reason’ at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-quarterly-manning-report-statistics-index

Armed Forces: Deployment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel in the (a) infantry, (b) Royal Artillery, (c) Royal Corps of Signals, (d) Army Medical Services, (e) Adjutant General's Corps, (f) Royal Armoured Corps, (g) Army Air Corps, (h) Royal Engineers, (i) Royal Logistics Corps, (j) Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and (k) Intelligence Corps, (l) Royal Navy and (m) RAF have breached harmony guideline targets in each of the last five years.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel in the (a) infantry, (b) Royal Artillery, (c) Royal Corps of Signals, (d) Army Medical Services, (e) Adjutant General's Corps, (f) Royal Armoured Corps, (g) Army Air Corps, (h) Royal Engineers, (i) Royal Logistics Corps, (j) Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and (k) Intelligence Corps, (l) Royal Navy and (m) RAF have breached harmony guideline targets in each of the last 12 months.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the harmony guideline target is for the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) Royal Air Force.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence publishes quarterly statistics on Separated Service (the proportion of personnel breaching harmony guidelines). The harmony guidelines are measured over a 36 month period and the limits are 660 days away for the Royal Navy/Royal Marines; 498 days for the Army; and 468 days away for the RAF. Data is available from 1 April 2014, before which date each Service had separate harmony rules. Top level statistics on Separated Service, by Service, from 1 April 2014 to 1 October 2016, can be found at Excel Table 10 of the UK Armed Forces Monthly Service Personnel Statistics which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-2016 The following table provides a breakdown of Separated Service data by Arm/Corps of the Army:   Arm / Corps1 April 20141 April 20151 April 2016 No. of PersonnelBreach RateNo. of PersonnelBreach RateNo. of PersonnelBreach RateInfantry9504.4%7303.6%6903.5%Royal Artillery2904.5%1402.2%701.2%Royal Corps of Signals2203.3%2003.2%1402.3%Army Medical Services1002.1%801.8%601.4%Adjutant General's Corps701.3%601.2%400.8%Royal Armoured Corps3507.3%2204.7%1202.6%Army Air Corps402.3%301.7%100.95Royal Engineers4705.8%3504.5%3404.5%Royal Logistics Corps3603.0%2402.2%1401.3%Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers3604.5%2503.2%1602.0%Intelligence Corps704.0%502.7%301.8%

Iraq: Military Intervention

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the provision of any military supplies agreed by the Government as suitable for the Kurdistan Regional Government has not been allowed by the federal Government of Iraq since June 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Ministry of Defence is not aware of any occasion since June 2014 when military supplies gifted by the UK Government for use by Kurdistan Regional Government Peshmerga forces in the fight against Daesh have not been allowed by the Government of Iraq.The UK Government has trained more than 7,300 Peshmerga fighters in Infantry skills, Counter-IED, engineering and combat first aid and they are playing an invaluable role in defeating Daesh.

War Pensions

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the 2016-17 war pension rate is for (a) monthly and (b) weekly claimants.

Mark Lancaster: The rates of pensions and allowances payable under the War Pensions Scheme for the financial year 2016-17 were published to the Gov.UK website on 15 December 2015, and can be found via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2016-war-pensions-and-allowance-ratesThe 100 per cent rate of basic War Disablement Pension is £178.20 per week for 2016-17. War Pensioners may opt to have their pension paid weekly. More details can be found in Leaflet 9 via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/war-pension-scheme

Invicta Park Barracks

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential economic and social effect on the local community and local businesses of the proposed closure of Invicta Park Barracks; and what plans he has for a formal consultation on that proposed closure.

Mark Lancaster: "A Better Defence Estate" is a military-led review. The decision to dispose of Invicta Park Barracks in 2027 was taken in consultation with Front Line Commands and the Chief of Defence People to optimise Defence infrastructure to support the delivery of military capability.Advance notice was provided to enable Local Authorities to develop their plans to maximise opportunities from moves into or out of their areas. The Ministry of Defence has already held initial discussions with both Kent County Council and Maidstone Borough Council to inform them of our plans and will work with them to ensure the best possible outcome for the local community when the barracks close.

HM Treasury

Treasury: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which persons not employed by his Department hold security passes entitling them to enter his Department's premises.

Simon Kirby: Civil servants have to have the ability to work flexibly across government sites where there is a business need to do so. The issuing of all passes is controlled by the Departmental Security teams. Passes can also be issued to contractors or secondees based within government premises on a case by case basis in regards to specific business needs. Numbers of passes issued directly to non-civil servants for access to departmental buildings will fluctuate over the course of a year.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of changes to vehicle excise duty from April 2017 on the rate of early scrappage of private cars.

Jane Ellison: No such assessment has been made. The Chancellor of the Exchequer considers all aspects of taxation as part of the Budget process. Cars first registered from 1 April 2017 onwards will pay a first year rate that varies by carbon emissions, followed by a flat standard rate of £140, except zero emission cars, which continue to pay nothing. Cars worth over £40,000 will pay a £310 supplement for the first five years of the standard rate, irrespective of whether they are conventionally fuelled, hybrid or electric cars.

Children: Poverty

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on child poverty of restrictions on child benefit for third and subsequent children.

Mr David Gauke: The government does not restrict Child Benefit for third and subsequent children.

Bank Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there are Government guidelines given to banks to ensure that consumers are protected when considering closing bank accounts that have not been in use for a number of years.

Simon Kirby: The Government does not issue guidelines on the closure of bank account accounts. Banks’ and building societies’ treatment of their customers is governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its Principles for Businesses and includes a general requirement for firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all of their customers. The Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 sets out that accounts are classified as dormant when they have not had any customer-initiated activity for more than 15 years. The Act enables banks and building societies to transfer money held in dormant accounts to a central reclaim fund. Account holders and their heirs will be able to reclaim money from dormant accounts at any time. More information, as well as an online application form, is available at: www.mylostaccount.org.uk

Bank Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there are any penalties in place for banks that are found to retain customer's money without informing them after the account has been closed.

Simon Kirby: Banks’ and building societies’ treatment of their customers is governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its Principles for Businesses and includes a general requirement for firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all of their customers, including in relation to account closures. The FCA has a wide range of enforcement powers – criminal, civil and regulatory – to protect consumers and to take action against firms and individuals that do not meet its standards.

Gaming Machines

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on tax revenues of proposed reductions in the maximum allowed stake on fixed-odds betting terminals.

Jane Ellison: Gambling regulation is a matter for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Gambling Commission. DCMS will publish an impact assessment on any changes proposed as a result of the ongoing Triennial Review into stakes and prizes on gaming machines and machine entitlements across all gambling premises.

Treasury: Pay

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total pay bill was for (a) male and (b) female employees in his Department in 2015-16; and what the per capita spend from that pay bill for each man and woman was in that year.

Simon Kirby: The Treasury does not hold the information in the format as requested however there are a number of published transparency reports that confirm the female and male proportions and respective median pay levels. These are outlined below. The total 2015-16 pay costs and average number of permanent persons employed by the Treasury can be found on the Annual report and accounts, page 72, at the following link www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-treasury-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016. The Office for National Statistics publishes an annual employment return for each department on various topics such as gender, ethnicity, disability status, earnings and location of the Civil Service workforce.This information can be found on the Office for National Statistics website. The 2015-16 data can be found at the link belowwww.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics. Table 24 represents mean earnings for employees by responsibility and gender pay difference. Table 36 displays an average of male and female employed by the department.

Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Senior Civil Servants

Jon Trickett: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, (IPSA) what the (a) ethnicity, (b) gender, (c) disability status, (d) educational background and (e) socio-economic status is of the three most senior officials employed by IPSA.

Mr Charles Walker: IPSA’s Chief Executive, Marcial Boo, is supported by a team of three senior directors (two male and one female).Information relating to IPSA’s senior staff is published on IPSA’s website, available at the following address: https://www.theipsa.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/ipsas-senior-staff/. Further information is also published annually in IPSA’s annual report and accounts.In line with statutory requirements under the Data Protection Act 1998, we do not publish sensitive personal data, which includes information relating to an individual’s ethnicity or disability status. IPSA does not hold information on employees’ educational background or socio-economic status.

Cabinet Office

Fraud

Lyn Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2017 to Question 60953, if he will place in the Library summary data on the incidence and prevalence of (a) cyber-enabled crime, (b) plastic payment card fraud and (c) other similar technology crimes in each year between 1999 and 2015.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Data of Incidence
(PDF Document, 63.69 KB)

Cabinet Office: Staff

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many former prisoners have been employed by his Department in each of the last five years.

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many former prisoners have been employed by 10 Downing Street in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office and is included in this reply.Information about the number of former prisoners employed by my Department in each of the last five years is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Cabinet Office: Senior Civil Servants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) ethnicity, (b) gender, (c) disability status, (d) educational background and (e) socio-economic status is of the three most senior officials of his Department.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) ethnicity, (b) gender, (c) disability status, (d) educational background and (e) socio-economic status is of the three most senior officials of 10 Downing Street.

Ben Gummer: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office and is included in this reply.Due to provisions under the Data Protection Act (1988), we are unable to release information about specific individuals. Aggregate information about the diversity of the workforce in my Department is available athttps://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office/about/equality-and-diversity

Viscount Rothermere

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister's predecessor met Lord Rothermere in February or March 2016.

Ben Gummer: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office: Pay

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total pay bill was for (a) male and (b) female employees in his Department in 2015-16; and what the per capita spend from that pay bill for each man and woman was in that year.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total pay bill was for (a) male and (b) female employees in 10 Downing Street in 2015-16; and what the per capita spend from that pay bill for each man and woman was in that year.

Ben Gummer: The total pay bill for (a) male and (b) female employees in my Department in 2015-16 and the per capita spend from that pay bill for each man and woman in that year is shown in the table below: Total Paybill (£m)Per Capita (£K)Male£70.9m£43.0KFemale£59.3m£35.8KIn October 2015, the Prime Minister announced that new gender pay gap reporting measures being introduced across the private and voluntary sector from April 2017 would be extended to also apply across the public sector. We are actively working to ensure the gender pay gap data we report in future fully mirrors these new requirements.The new gender pay gap reporting measures being introduced across the public, private and voluntary sectors from April 2017 will require departments to publish a number of new forms of data, aside from the mean and median gender pay gap which they currently report.The Civil Service has a comprehensive plan to become the most inclusive employer in the UK. This is called the Talent Action Plan and was refreshed in March 2016. The plan commits the Civil Service to a number of actions with the aim of removing barriers faced by underrepresented groups, including women, from succeeding. The plan sets out the ambition under key themes which includes recruitment and selection, talent and progression, inclusive culture and social mobility.As part of the Talent Action Plan the commitments we are taking forward include a critical talent review. We have already introduced shared parental leave across the Civil Service and a new online job share portal to help people identify job share opportunities across the organisation. We have also reviewed our approach to maternity leave and returning to work.

Civil Servants: Brexit

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to ensure that the civil service has the number of people it needs in each Department to deal with the implications of the UK leaving the EU.

Ben Gummer: Workforce planning is primarily the responsibility of each department. The Civil Service constantly reviews its capabilities in order to deliver the Government's commitment to leave the EU and get the best deal for the UK. Civil Service HR is working with all departments across the Civil Service to better understand their capacity and capability requirements.

*No heading*

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK's decision to leave the EU on the size of the civil service workforce.

Ben Gummer: Workforce planning is primarily the responsibility of each department. The Civil Service constantly reviews its capabilities in order to deliver the Government's commitment to leave the EU and get the best deal for the UK. Civil Service HR is working with all departments across the Civil Service to better understand their capacity and capability requirements.

Government: Disclosure of Information

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his  Department has taken to improve transparency in government.

Ben Gummer: The UK is recognised as a world leader in transparency and this government is committed to being the most transparent in the world. We publish an unprecedented amount of data about the workings of government and we will continue to do so, both to encourage innovation and transform our public services.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: European Convention on Human Rights

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the role the European Convention of Human Rights in future trade deals the UK makes with other countries.

Greg Hands: The UK has a strong history of protecting human rights and promoting our values globally. We will in due course consider all options in the design of future bilateral trade and investment agreements. We will of course continue to honour our international human rights obligations.

Overseas Trade: South Africa

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government is taking to strengthen the mining trade between the UK and South Africa.

Greg Hands: DIT’s trade promotion staff in South Africa support commercial activity between the UK and South Africa across a number of sectors, including mining. In addition UK Export Finance welcomes applications from the mining sector for support to export to South Africa.DIT staff regularly meet and work with UK companies in the mining industry. In addition, DIT hosts British companies in a UK Pavilion at the annual Mining Indaba in Cape Town - the most important commercial event in the African mining industry calendar. This year, 19 companies will be represented and have direct access to support from DIT staff.

Libya: Oil

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what information he holds on receipts and revenue flows accruing to the regimes in Libya from oil exports in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: The latest data on UK trade in oil products with Libya are given in Table 1 below:Table 1: UK trade in oil products with Libya  UK exports of oil products (HS 27) to LibyaUK imports of oil products (HS 27) from LibyaDecember 2015 to November 2016£186,344£196,899,814 Source: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Overseas Trade Statistics databaseNote: Oil products defined as HS code 27: Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes

Department for International Trade: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which persons not employed by his Department hold security passes entitling them to enter his Department's premises.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade (DIT) staff along with all civil servants have the ability to work flexibly across government sites where there is a business need to do so. At present, DIT operate in shared buildings where it is not the major tenant. The responsibility of issuing passes does not fall directly to DIT but to the local Departmental Security teams responsible for the building.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Staff

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many former prisoners have been employed by his Department in each of the last five years.

Guto Bebb: None.

Wales Office: Senior Civil Servants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the (a) ethnicity, (b) gender, (c) disability status, (d) educational background and (e) socio-economic status is of the three most senior officials of his Department.

Guto Bebb: To comply with the Data Protection Act and safeguard employee personal data, the Wales Office is unable to provide this information. Some anonymised data on the gender makeup of Wales Office senior officials is reported on an annual basis within the department’s annual accounts: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wales-office-annual-report-2015-16-published

Department of Health

Ambulance Services

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the level of the misuse of ambulance services in (a) England and (b) each Ambulance NHS Trust; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce the cost incurred by such misuse.

Mr Philip Dunne: No such assessment has been made.

Heart Diseases: Older People

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of heart valve disease among people aged over 65 to ensure early diagnosis of that disease.

David Mowat: Public Health England has recently run a Be Clear on Cancer campaign to raise awareness of respiratory symptoms, including breathlessness, which can be a symptom of heart disease. The campaign aimed to encourage those with inappropriate breathlessness or a persistent cough lasting three weeks or more to go and see their general practitioner. It was primarily aimed at earlier diagnosis of heart and lung disease, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and cancer, with scope to reduce premature mortality and to improve the quality of life of those living with these conditions. The activity is aimed at men and women who are over the age of 50 from lower socioeconomic groups, and their key influencers, such as friends and family. The campaign ran from 14 July to 16 October 2016 and appeared on national television, radio, print, online and face-to-face events in shopping centres.

Heart Diseases: Older People

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of rolling out routine stethoscope checks by a trained primary care healthcare professional for peopled aged over 65 to ensure the effective diagnosis of heart valve disease.

David Mowat: Whether stethoscope examination of all over 65 year olds would be a cost-effective health intervention is untested and would need further consideration by the UK National Screening Committee. NHS England has requested that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence prepare and publish guidance on valve disease.

Department of Health: Overseas Aid

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2016 to Question 59052, for what reasons the decision was taken by his Department in 2015 to begin funding Overseas Development Assistance; from which Departmental budget such funding was taken; and how much has been so spent to date.

Nicola Blackwood: At the 2015 Spending Review HM Treasury awarded the Department of Health, along with a number of other government departments, additional Overseas Development Funding in line with the 2015 revised UK Aid Strategy – Tackling Global Challenges in the National Interest available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-aid-tackling-global-challenges-in-the-national-interest This Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget is a ring-fenced budget transferred from the Department for International Development and, as such, is supplementary to other Department of Health budgets. Department of Health ODA expenditure since 2015/16 is £75.9 million.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that superbugs do not make cancer untreatable.

Nicola Blackwood: The Government has been at the forefront of action to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The risk of infection from multidrug-resistant bacteria (or “superbugs”) is not confined to cancer treatment but has implications for a wide range of medical treatments and interventions, including routine surgery. The UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, published in 2013, set out an ambitious programme to slow the development and spread of AMR taking a “One-Health” approach spanning people, animals, agriculture and the wider environment. The Strategy seeks to prevent infection, protect the antibiotics that we have and promote the development of new drugs and alternative treatments. Progress on these actions has been reported in the Second Annual Progress report available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/progress-report-on-the-uk-5-year-amr-strategy-2015 In September 2016, the Government published its response to the Independent Review on AMR, led by Lord O’Neill. This is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-the-review-on-antimicrobial-resistance The response sets out further ambitions to address the challenges of antimicrobial resistance, including the following domestic ambitions:- A reduction in healthcare associated Gram-negative bloodstream infections in England by 50% by 2020; and- A reduction in inappropriate antibiotic prescribing by 50%, with the aim of being a world leader in reducing prescribing by 2020. Internationally, the UK continues to lead in tackling AMR through globally co-ordinated and sustainably funded action. In September 2016, the Government’s leadership helped secure a UN declaration on AMR and a commitment from the G20 to look at solutions to the market failure on the development of new antimicrobials.

Infectious Diseases

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission an all-encompassing analysis of the overall health burden of infectious diseases in the UK.

Nicola Blackwood: England participates in the international Global ongoing Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study which assesses and compares health within and between countries. This includes an overall assessment of the burden of infectious diseases. Results from the GBD show changes over time, comparisons and ranking of infectious diseases and other diseases and is available at:http://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/ The most recent analysis on the GBD study was published by Public Health England in September 2015 and is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/burden-of-disease-study-for-england

In Vitro Fertilisation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to ensure that there will be no restriction on IVF availability.

Nicola Blackwood: It is the Government’s long-standing policy that National Health Service commissioners should have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence fertility guidelines in deciding local provision of in-vitro fertilization. It is clinical commissioning groups, which are led by general practitioners, that have the statutory responsibility to commission healthcare services that meet the needs of their whole population, reducing inequalities and improving care quality.

MMR Vaccine

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reach the WHO target of at least 95 per cent of children at age two are vaccinated for MMR.

Nicola Blackwood: In November 2016 a measles and rubella elimination strategy group was established to oversee the development of a United Kingdom-wide Measles and Rubella elimination strategy, which will outline the UK’s renewed commitment to the World Health Organization targets and make recommendations for further action. Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England work closely with providers at a local level to target specific communities where uptake of the Measles Mumps and Rubella vaccine is known to be poor, as well as widening access by commissioning a range of alternative providers to complement existing general practitioner activities and community health service delivered immunisations. PHE also contributes to national standard development and setting for immunisation providers and commissioners, which includes recommendations for commissioners and providers on increasing immunisation uptake among children and young people in groups and settings where immunisation coverage is low.

Better Care Fund

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the Better Care Fund programme on the most vulnerable people in society.

David Mowat: The Better Care Fund (BCF), first announced in Spending Round 2013 and implemented in 2015-16, is the first national, mandatory integration policy. In pooling funds, it has helped to join-up health and care services so that older people, and those with complex health needs, can manage their own health and wellbeing and live independently in their communities for as long as possible. An evaluation of the BCF is underway, although it is currently too early to make a conclusive assessment, we do know that the BCF has been successful in incentivising local areas to work together. 90% of areas agreed, or strongly agreed, that the delivery of BCF plans had a positive impact on integration and joined up working locally.

Suicide

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to ensure all GPs are trained in suicide awareness.

Mr Philip Dunne: It is the responsibility of the General Medical Council to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. The Royal College of General Practitioners also has responsibility for developing the content of training for general practitioners, including training in suicide awareness and prevention.

Department of Health: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which persons not employed by his Department and its agencies hold security passes entitling them to enter his Department's premises.

David Mowat: Civil servants have to have the ability to work flexibly across government sites where there is a business need to do so. The issuing of all passes is controlled by the local Departmental Security teams. Passes can also be issued to contractors or secondees based within Government premises on a case by case basis in regards to specific business needs. Numbers of passes issued directly to non-civil servants for access to departmental buildings will fluctuate over the course of a year.

Dental Health

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many local authorities in England provide or commission an oral health improvement programme; and what estimate he has made of the funds committed to such programmes by local authorities in England in each of the last three financial years.

David Mowat: Oral health improvement is the responsibility of local authorities. Oral health improvement services are often commissioned as part of other health improvement programmes and so it is not always possible to disaggregate the specific oral health improvement element and give accurate numbers of funds committed.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2016 to Question 45640, how many participants have received the HPV vaccine as part of the pilot to provide that vaccine to gay and bisexual men.

Nicola Blackwood: In June 2016, a pilot programme was started offering human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to men who have sex with men (MSM) up to the age of 45 attending participating HIV and genitourinary medicine clinics. Data on the number of eligible MSM receiving HPV vaccination during the pilot is being collected but has not been validated. It is anticipated that initial validated data up to the end of March 2017 will be included in the pilot evaluation report, currently expected early summer 2017.

Obesity: Children

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to educate parents on child obesity.

Nicola Blackwood: Tackling childhood obesity is a priority for this government as set out in the Childhood Obesity Action Plan (2016), and providing information to parents is an important part of our strategy. Change4Life is Public Health England’s (PHE) flagship campaign to help families and children in England to eat well, and move more. In January 2017 Change4Life launched the Be Food Smart campaign, which provides practical information to parents on the sugar, salt and saturated fat content of everyday food and drink. PHE is also responsible for the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). PHE provides guidance to local authorities on how to meet their statutory requirement to weigh and measure every child attending state school in reception and Year 6. PHE recommends that parents are provided with information about the programme and a feedback letter reporting the results. The template materials provided for local tailoring include information about maintaining a healthy weight and links to NCMP pages on the Change4Life website.The Change4Life website can be viewed here:https://www.nhs.uk/change4life-beta/be-food-smart

Suicide

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to prevent suicides.

Nicola Blackwood: We published the progress report of the cross-Government Suicide Prevention Strategy on 9 January. The attached document, ‘Preventing suicide in England: Third progress report of the cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives’, sets out how we are updating the strategy in key areas to drive implementation both nationally and locally.



PQ62582 attached document
(PDF Document, 1.14 MB)

Capita: Standards

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Capita improves its performance relating to the processing of dental performer list applications.

David Mowat: NHS England is meeting with Capita on a weekly basis to oversee the delivery of its plans for the Dental Performers Lists and other key services and to ensure the right improvements are in place to address the backlogs and delays. My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health and Innovation (Nicola Blackwood), continues to work directly with Capita and NHS England to ensure that services are restored to an acceptable and sustainable standard.

Eating Disorders

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department is giving to middle-aged people diagnosed with eating disorders.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is currently updating its guideline on eating disorders covering a range of age groups, including adults, to be published in May 2017. Treatment for eating disorders is initially provided by a patient’s general practitioner who then refers them to the relevant mental health service. The General Medical Council is responsible for setting the standards and outcomes for education and training and approving training curricula to ensure newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training on treating patients with eating disorders as required.

Bosutinib

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects NICE to conclude their deliberations on the use of Bosutinib; what the cost is of providing Bosutinib for a 12 month period; and what estimate he has made of the number of people who could benefit from Bosutinib being approved by NICE.

Nicola Blackwood: The information requested is provided in the attached table.



PQ62571 attached document
(Word Document, 13.7 KB)

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking with NHS England to ensure that gay and bisexual men sign up to the HPV vaccination pilot.

Nicola Blackwood: The human papillomavirus (HPV) pilot has been designed to evaluate whether it is operationally possible and cost effective to deliver an HPV vaccination programme to men who have sex with men through genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. Public Health England is monitoring the delivery of the vaccine through a number of invited clinics; the vaccine is not available outside of the pilot clinics. To ensure that the pilot collects information that is accurate and representative there is no active promotion of the vaccination.

Bulimia: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what transcranial direct current stimulation will be made available on the NHS to treat bulimia.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not issued any guidance on this treatment. In the absence of guidance from NICE, commissioners should make decisions on the availability of individual treatments based on the evidence available to them. NICE is currently updating a guideline on eating disorders – recognition and treatment, to be published in May 2017.

Sexually Transmitted Infections: Disadvantaged

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the rates of (a) gonorrhoea and (b) other sexual transmitted infections among deprived urban communities.

Nicola Blackwood: Public Health England (PHE) holds two key contracts with external organisations to deliver different aspects of sexual health promotion including addressing sexual transmitted infections (STIs). In attempts to reduce the risk of HIV, the first contract with HIV Prevention England allows for activities, including social marketing, to control and prevent STIs including gonorrhoea and syphilis. The second is with the Family Planning Association which provides authoritative information on reproductive and sexual health including STIs. PHE co-leads a theme of research funded through the National Institute Health Research Health Protection Research Unit which aims to improve understanding of the contextual factors influencing risk behaviour and access to health services, to help foster behaviour change and develop more effective interventions and public health messaging. The research focusses on the black Caribbean community in London and Birmingham, who experience the highest rates of bacterial STIs, especially of gonorrhoea.

Tuberculosis: Disadvantaged

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the rate of TB in the 10 per cent of the population living in the most deprived areas.

Nicola Blackwood: Tackling tuberculosis (TB) in deprived populations is being addressed through the 10 key evidence based ‘areas for action’’ defined in the Collaborative TB Strategy for England 2015-2020, which can be accessed at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/403231/Collaborative_TB_Strategy_for_England_2015_2020_.pdf This will be achieved by focusing on reducing diagnostic delay through awareness raising and improving accessibility of services, reducing TB among migrants through latent TB infection testing and treatment, maintaining the quality of TB treatment and care services to ensure continued high treatment completion and addressing the social factors associated with TB, including the specific needs of under-served populations. In January 2016, Public Health England published TB in under-served populations: A resource for TB control boards and their partners, a comprehensive resource for TB control boards and partners to tackle and reduce associated health inequalities. This can be accessed at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/584483/tackling_tb_in_under_served_populations.pdf

Diabetes: Health Education

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people diagnosed with diabetes.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Health Service Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) is a joint commitment from NHS England, Public Health England and Diabetes United Kingdom, to deliver at scale evidence based behavioural interventions for individuals identified as being at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The NHS DPP operates through a national framework of providers able to deliver a nine month structured programme of behaviour and lifestyle interventions, tailored to personal need. Local health economies select their preferred provider and work with them to ensure the content responds to the needs of the local population demographics, and to generate the referrals. The intervention is group based behavioural coaching, includes advice on the risks of diabetes and support to achieve personal goals related to a healthy weight, nutrition and reaching the Chief Medical Officer’s recommended levels of physical activity. The NHS DPP supports people to take control of their own health to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Eligible individuals have a raised blood sugar associated with risk factors such as age, ethnicity or high Body Mass Index. To the end of November 2016 13,383 at risk individuals had been referred to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. By 2020 up to 100,000 individuals per year will be able to access the service.

Everolimus

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects NICE to conclude their deliberations on the use of Everolimus; what the cost is of providing Everolimus for a 12 month period; and what estimate he has made of the number of people who could benefit from Everolimus being approved by NICE.

Nicola Blackwood: The information requested is provided in the attached table.



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Louise Guss Consulting

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many contracts (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies and agencies have awarded to Louise Guss Consulting Ltd since 2013.

David Mowat: The Department can confirm following a detailed search of its Business Management Services database, that “Louise Guss Consulting Ltd” are not a registered supplier and consequently there are no records of any spend or contracts being held with this company. Responses from all of the Department’s Non-Departmental Public Bodies and its agencies, including Special Health Authorities, have confirmed that no contracts are or have been held with Louise Guss Consulting Ltd since 2013.

General Practitioners: Migrant Workers

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what systems his Department plans to put in place to support the recruitment of GPs from abroad.

David Mowat: The General Practice Forward View (GPFV), published in April 2016, includes a commitment to deliver a major international recruitment drive to attract at least 500 appropriately trained and qualified general practitioners from overseas by 2020. Following publication of the GPFV, NHS England’s general practice workforce team has been engaging with regional and local National Health Service teams, Health Education England, and other stakeholders, including the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association, to agree an approach for delivering the commitment. These different stakeholders have agreed that the programme will be locally led and delivered with national oversight, co-ordination and support by the national general practice workforce team. Each overseas recruitment project will be expected to satisfy a set of national principles; the national principles are set out at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/gp/gpfv/workforce/international-gp-recruitment/national-principles/ The contracts and support packages for international doctors recruited into general practices will vary across the country, to be tailored to the opportunities and needs of the local health system. A budget of up to £20 million has been identified to support schemes up to 2020.

General Practitioners: Devon

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the Government has made on recruiting more GPs in (a) Devon and (b) Plymouth.

David Mowat: The General Practice Forward View (GPFV), published in April 2016, sets out that the Government is investing an extra £2.4 billion a year nationally for general practice services by 2020/21, with the set aim to have an extra 5,000 doctors working in general practice in England by 2020.NHS England’s South West Development Fund is being used to implement the GPFV locally, with a team of change managers – including one in Plymouth – in place to support practices and make them more sustainable and attractive to new doctors. In addition, Health Education England’s south west team has been active in promoting general practice as a career both by working with national incentives and addressing local opportunities.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase the capacity of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency as a result of the UK leaving the EU.

David Mowat: The Government is assessing fully how the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union will impact on medicines regulation in the UK, including the future role of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and its capacity requirements.

Health Services: Privatisation

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the process is for NHS England to determine its funding annually for the prioritisation of specialised services.

David Mowat: The majority of NHS England’s allocation for specialised services is pre-committed each year to fund established treatments and interventions for patients across all prescribed specialised services.Once these commitments have been planned for, any remaining resources for new investments are allocated in the following order of financial priority:1. NHS England’s first priority for funding is non-discretionary investments. These include service investment for Technology Appraisals and the appraisals undertaken as part of the Highly Specialised Technologies Programme, both conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NHS England is legally required to fund these treatments.2. For discretionary investment, the first priority is funding services that support the delivery of the NHS Constitution Standards. These include the 18-week wait referral to treatment time and the cancer and mental health targets.3. The next priority is developments which support National Health Service strategies and priorities. These may be pre-existing priorities, such as increasing access to transplantation, or alternatively be nationally / locally driven strategic change.4. All other developments will then be considered.These orders of financial priority were subject to public consultation in 2015. In 2016, a further consultation took place on the annual prioritisation process. The annual prioritisation process is used if the total cost of developments in group four exceeds available remaining resources.

Suicide

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to stop websites promoting suicide.

Nicola Blackwood: Under section 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961 it is an offence in England and Wales to carry out an act capable of encouraging or assisting the suicide or attempted suicide of another person with the intention to so encourage or assist. The law applies to online actions in exactly the same way as it does offline. We published the third progress report of the Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Strategy for England in January which set out the Government’s intention to explore ways of working with suicide prevention stakeholders and the online sector to address potentially harmful suicidal content online. The Government continues to work closely with the UK Council for Child Internet Safety which engages social media companies to make sure they are committed to protecting children who use their platforms. This includes issues around suicidal content. The Government also expects social media companies, and others, to have robust processes in place and to act promptly, including removing content which does not comply with the acceptable use policies or terms and conditions they have in place and, where appropriate, suspending or terminating the accounts of those breaching the rules in place.

Air Pollution

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on when the UK Health Forum project into the costs to the NHS and to social care from air pollution will (a) conclude and (b) publish its findings.

Nicola Blackwood: Public Health England (PHE) has commissioned a consortium led by the UK Health Forum to carry out a project on the estimation of costs to the National Health Service and social care due to the health impacts of air pollution as part of PHE’s Health Economics Commissioning Framework. This project is due to end with the publication of the findings in June 2017.

Eating Disorders: Older People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people over the age of 60 have been diagnosed with an eating disorder in each of the last five years.

Nicola Blackwood: The table below shows the number of cases where people aged over 60 received a primary diagnosis of eating disorder on admission to hospital, for the years requested. The same patient may have been admitted more than once in the same year. These are diagnoses for hospital admissions only and there may be cases diagnosed in other care settings, for which information is not collected centrally. A count of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of eating disorders for ages 60 and over, from 2010-11 to 2015-16 Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector YearFinished Admission Episodes2010-11732011-12682012-13582013-14512014-15832015-1661Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital

In Vitro Fertilisation

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the timescale is for deciding and publishing the benchmark price for IVF.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many meetings his Department has had with (a) NHS England, (b) professional bodies and (c) stakeholder bodies to discuss the creation of a benchmark price for IVF.

Nicola Blackwood: NHS England has advised that the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) benchmark price will be developed during 2017/18 with support from the IVF Expert Advisory Group and all key stakeholders, working towards publishing the IVF benchmark price ready for the financial year 2018/19. It is also planning to develop and test an IVF outcome based payment approach with a number of clinical commissioning groups and service providers in 2018/19. The issue of an IVF benchmark price was first raised at a meeting with my hon. Friend the former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health (Jane Ellison) on 14 December 2015, attended by NHS England officials and stakeholders. There was a subsequent follow up meeting between the Department and NHS England on 10 May 2016. NHS England met with professionals groups and stakeholders on 24 June 2016 and established the IVF Expert Advisory Group, whose membership includes NHS England, the Department, National Health Service commissioners, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, professional groups and patient stakeholders. The Expert Advisory Group met for the first time on 11 November 2016 and is scheduled to meet again on 3 March 2017. A wider stakeholder workshop also took place on 9 December 2016.

Cystic Fibrosis: Drugs

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health of 13 December 2016, Official Report, column 257WH, on the accelerated access review, what progress has been made on taking forward negotiations on Orkambi with Vertex.

Nicola Blackwood: The Accelerated Access Review recommendations are currently being considered by the Government. As the hon. Member will be aware from the Westminster Hall Debate on 13 December, it was stated that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) would be happy to consider any additional evidence of the cost-effectiveness or a revised price proposal that Vertex can provide to support a review of NICE’s original decision on the use of Orkambi (lumacaftor-ivacaftor). In the meantime discussions with Vertex are continuing, including with NHS England.

International Red Cross

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of instances when the Red Cross has provided care to people at home after their discharge from hospital in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat: The information requested is not held centrally.

Eating Disorders: Children

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many school-aged children have been diagnosed with an eating disorder in each year since 2010.

Nicola Blackwood: The data is not held in the format requested.

Eating Disorders: Children and Young People

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will list (a) the community-based eating disorder services for children and young people which (i) currently and (ii) plan in 2017-18 to accept non-GP referrals, including self-referral, (b) those services which are not currently accepting such referrals and (c) those services which have no plan to do so in 2017-18.

Nicola Blackwood: This information is not collected centrally.

Prisoners: Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report, Preventing suicide in England: A cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives, published on 9 January 2017, whether his Department has evidence of an increase in the number of vulnerable individuals in prisons in the last five years.

Nicola Blackwood: There is a not a single measure of the vulnerability of individuals in prison. NHS England is responsible for commissioning health services for prisoners which meets their holistic mental and physical health needs.

Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will hold discussions with technology companies on the implications for his policies on suicide prevention of the publication of detailed information on suicide methods online.

Nicola Blackwood: We published the third progress report of the Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Strategy for England in January which set out the Government’s intention to explore ways of working with suicide prevention stakeholders and the online sector to address potentially harmful suicidal content online. The Government continues to work closely with the United Kingdom Council for Child Internet Safety which engages social media companies to make sure they are committed to protecting children who use their platforms. This includes issues around suicidal content. The Government also expects social media companies, and others, to have robust processes in place and to act promptly, including removing content which does not comply with the acceptable use policies or terms and conditions they have in place and, where appropriate, suspending or terminating the accounts of those breaching the rules in place.

Eating Disorders: Children and Young People

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans there are to include community-based eating disorder services for children and young people in the in-depth thematic review of children and young people's mental health services, announced by the Prime Minister on 9 January 2017.

Nicola Blackwood: The independent Care Quality Commission (CQC) will lead a major thematic review of children and adolescent mental health services across the country to identify what is working well and what is not. The CQC is currently developing the terms of reference and scope of this work.

Eating Disorders: Children and Young People

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2016 to Question 50911, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the funding referred to is spent in full on child and adolescent eating disorder services.

Nicola Blackwood: The NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance for 2017-19 sets out the financial and business rules for the National Health Service for both 2017/18 and 2018/19. It includes specific requirements for the commissioning of eating disorder services for children and young people.https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NHS-operational-planning-guidance-201617-201819.pdf

Eating Disorders: Children and Young People

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on implementing access and waiting time standards for eating disorder services for children and young people; and what his timetable is for NHS England to begin regular publication of waiting times for those services.

Nicola Blackwood: NHS England monitors the number of young people who receive treatment for an eating disorder within the ‘referral to treatment’ standard timeframe as published in the evidence-base pathway for children and young people with an eating disorder available at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/mentalhealth/cyp/eating-disorders/These data were collected for the first time in 2016 and will be published on a quarterly basis from 11 May 2017 at a national and regional level as a minimum. The data will be published from May 2017.Note the eating disorder ‘referral to treatment’ standard states: “By 2020, 95% of those referred for assessment or treatment for an eating disorder should receive National Institute for Health and Care Excellence concordant treatment within one week for urgent cases and within 4 weeks for every other case”.

Cystic Fibrosis

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using cystic fibrosis treatments to pilot the recommendations of the Accelerated Access Review.

Nicola Blackwood: The Accelerated Access Review (AAR) published its recommendations last October and these are currently being considered by the Government. The Review recommended the establishment of an Accelerated Access Partnership with the aim of getting strategically-important products to patients more quickly. If accepted, it will be for that body, which would include a wide range of representatives from industry and Government, to decide which treatments should be used to pilot the AAR’s recommendations. The Government is considering the review’s recommendations and will provide a formal response in due course.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when Health Education England plans to publish its five-year mental health workforce strategy.

Nicola Blackwood: Health Education England’s (HEE) Mandate for 2016/17 committed them to publish a Mental Health Workforce Strategy as set out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. HEE intend to publish this strategy shortly.

Mental Health Services: Hospital Beds

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2017 to Question 62390, how many people were admitted to adult in-patient mental health wards in each month of 2016 by age at admission.

Nicola Blackwood: The data is not held in the format requested.

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2017 to Question 61518, what the recorded causes of death were of the 11 children who died in in-patient mental health units since 2013.

Nicola Blackwood: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 January 2017 to Question 61518. It is not departmental policy to publish data on individuals, in line with law and patient confidentiality. With such a small cohort, the risk of patients becoming identifiable is increased.

Medical Records: Data Protection

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether an impact assessment of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between his Department, NHS Digital and the Home Office on sharing patient information has been undertaken; what consultation process his Department carried out on that MOU; and if he will make a statement.

Nicola Blackwood: The Memorandum of Understanding is a document for internal governance assurance purposes between the Home Office, the Department of Health and NHS Digital. Therefore, the Department worked closely with NHS Digital and the Home Office, with due regard to the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, to establish a protocol for requests to locate illegal migrants who have lost touch with the Home Office.

Eating Disorders: Children and Young People

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page seven of the NHS England report, Implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, published in February 2016, when NHS England plans to publish the expected trajectory for localities' progress towards meeting new standards for children and young people's eating disorder services.

Nicola Blackwood: Clinical commissioning groups’ (CCG) plans for 2017-19 (submitted 23 December 2016) stated their trajectories for meeting the eating disorder standard by 2020. To inform assurance processes, NHS England is comparing CCG reported trajectories with the data collected on the number of young people receiving treatment within the ‘referral to treatment’ timeframe every quarter.